Thats a fair question. Dennis appears to be injured, Bayo is on cusp of returning but not able to do 90' and Adeyemo is seemingly still not fit enough. We don't have any strikers we feel are ready to make a step up so we could maybe try a false 9 in Martins who drops back to link play instead and makes space for Asprilla and Sema to occupy.
I see most think TDB and Pollock were ok. I thought they looked below average. The space their player had to make the cross for the first goal and the way their player got across our defender to score the second, was a failure of basic defending. Lewis was not very good IMHO. Sema was very poor all game. I assume both Kone and Kayembe were carrying injuries. Ince really only makes sense if he converts the chances from the positions he gets into. Rajovic makes you pine for a fit again Bayo. overall though I thought Huddersfield deserved the win, if nothing else for their assertive performance and ability to pass to one another quickly and accurately. Their number 8 was the most effective player on the pitch. Their number 16 the most effective fouler I have seen for some time. We struggled to retain the ball in the first half, due to their physicality and our ponderous and frequently inaccurate passing. Our performance felt like the end of the season when one team had something to play for and we didn’t. A disappointing afternoon, with the Dennis goal being the only bit of quality we showed in 98 minutes.
That was awful and a terrible watch. VI spoke pre match about how good it was to have a full week of preparation. To then serve up that first half and, in particular, the first 25 mins was unforgivable. TDB has improved defensively (although clearly at fault for the first) at RB but he offers nothing going forward. So many times the RW is isolated without support. So easy for teams to defend against - this seems a really odd subject for VI to get obstinate about. We have lost any aggression (not that we had much!) and are back to our passive best all over the pitch . At this level aggression and maximum effort can compensate for some of the quality we have lost - this has been lacking in recent performances but we were completely devoid of it today. Lastly a mention for Martens. Terribly out of form but I thought he was awful when he came on and I thought he had downed tools a bit - zero work off the ball when he came on. I’m not VI out (no point) but we are destined to finish around 16th and that won’t get him another season.
Pollock would have been better but doesn't trust TDB outside him. Keeps shuffling right to cover before TDB is even beaten and leaves a gap in the middle. Still not quite sure how we gave their guy so much time to cross for their first. Awful.
First the good news . Clyde were 18\1 and both to score. Kerr-f*****g-ching !. Not much more to add to what has already been said TBH . A pundit on Talksport this morning, can't remember who , said that whoever goes up will come straight back down because the division is so poor . He also said that every team in the Championship is trying to be Man City , playing out from the back at all times , which is all well and good but if you drop a ricket you don't always get punished like you will in the Premiership . I tend to agree and it is no surprise either that the only promoted team making a fist of things is that lot from the Kennel with their high effort brand of rugby-cum-football.
The first half was an utter disgrace with no attempt on goal for over 37 minutes and not even an attack worthy of the name in that time. And this at home to a limited team in relegation trouble. I don’t believe Ismael told them to play like that, but the mindset at the start of games is awful and that must in part be down to him with the obsession for keeping the ball instead of trying to attack. We also don’t have a centre forward of any quality at all, let alone one who can play on his own in the formation we insist on using every game. I’m going to find it difficult summoning the enthusiasm to continue going to games for the rest of this season.
Huddersfield had our number, we couldn't deal with their press and ended up limping it long to Dennis to try and win. Kone and Kayembe were anonymous, barely showed for the ball and couldn't keep it when they got it. Ince and Chakvetadze were far better. That being said ince had the best three chances of the game and did naff all. Rajovic, bless him he tries but is not very good. Pollock was out best player by a country mile and such a shame to see Dennis go off with a groin injury. Thought we created some good chances but couldn't finish our dinner. Huddersfield pretty much had two half decent chances and buried both of them. Frustrating game but glad we managed to create today.
Pre game the midfield and forwards spent time doing passing moves (without defenders) and getting the ball into Dennis for him or an other to shoot against academy keeper. I wish I'd videoed it as they managed to miss! A portent for things to come sadly
I thought about this while marvelling at the amazing first half entertainment today. How have we got to a point where Championship football, which if nothing else always had being direct and quite end to end on occasion in its favour, is now this pale imitation of elite football? You’ve basically got every team playing out from the back but the vast majority not being good enough to execute it consistently. And the same goes for ‘the press’ that all the stattos seem to bow down at the altar of these days. It’s utter crap. If my team are going to ultimately fail at 99 attacking moves out of 100 I’d much rather they fell apart in or around the opposition box than the feet of our defenders miles back in their own half.
The season is over and I'm pretty sick of seeing the same faces every week. The only way this club is going to survive going forward is to develop and sell our youngsters. For the rest of the season I'd make it club policy to have at least three academy players in the matchday squad. I don't care if they're not good enough, the youngsters need to see a pathway to the first team. Based on today they can't be much worse than the cr@p we've got playing for us at the moment.
Two subs in the first half replacing non injured players, very rare, the last time I can remember taking a player off in the first half was Anya away to Brighton in that penultimate game in the promotion winning season 2015, anyone else think of any others?
Well we are only 9 points off the bottom 3 and more performances like today will see us get very few points. Even in the Lewington and Dyche/Malky days we probably looked more threatening and forward thinking than that. Probably had someone who looked like they might score too.. I know Dennis but now he is injured.
It was a ballsy move but unless it pays off there is always going to be fallout from this. AF mentioned Kone walked through the media room, which is unusual. I think Val is under a lot of pressure hence the nonsense he was coming out with over the schedule being the cause of the poor results. He pinned all his hopes on a good performance, saying that they had a complete week and we’ll see the difference today. Well we didn’t, and it was more of the same dross which has been served up for much of the season. Not sure where Val goes from here. Over the past 12 matches, the form table places us in 20th place. The home form for the entire season places us 19th. Only those fortunate away wins gave papered over the cracks, and fooled the majority of fans as to where we really are as a club. We’re a bottom 8 team. I’ve said it all season, and I think it’s revealing itself now.
Rare to have a game where all bar 2 or 3 are abysmally bad. Me and those around me were discussing the need to hook Kayembe and Kone after 10 minutes, they were so bad it was embarrassing. We were lamenting the fact VI probably wouldn’t hook them until 60 minutes, half time at best, so it was a welcome surprise to see him make the early change. It was almost laughable that Kone looked surprised by it - one of the worst individual performances I’ve seen. Hoedt and Hamer didn’t do much wrong. Pollock was ok but looked asleep for the second goal. The rest were crap but special mentions for Rajovic, Martins, Sema, Lewis, TDB who were especially crap.
Ha! That has cheered me up at least. One of the worst individual performances for years, at a club that has served up plenty of them in recent years, and it gets put down to tiredness. He was woeful and looked like he’d spent the morning getting stoned. He wouldn’t move any faster than the speed players go at with a fake run when they are being g subbed off whilst running down the clock. Hoedt and Pollock were laying into him repeatedly for not giving an option in the middle. The one time Hoedt put a pass to him he didn’t half turn or even take a second touch - just passed it first time back to Hamer then turned and ambled away.
Plus in his 25 minutes I think there were 2 or 3 times he tracked back to cover wide and then put absolutely zero effort into trying to block the resulting cross.
This is really strange . Previously when Kone has had an off day it was not because of a lack of effort . I hope this isn't a changing room issue that has spilled onto the pitch
Sema has taken plenty for what was a dud performance. Asprilla created a few good chances but his all round game was poor. He is a player of moments rather than performances.
100% Kayambe looked miles off the pace, but that Kone performance was truly horrendous. Ken also stank the place out (the back pass in the first half straight to one of their players and again in the second half) but he was the lesser of the trio.
Has there been a memo this week, last season they started getting charged for meals at the training ground, maybe they are getting charged for transport to away games, whatever it is they obvious aren’t happy about something!
I can only assume that Ismael has been on annual leave this week if he didn’t notice that neither of them had the right level. Or he’s not picking the team.
Does anyone know what is happening with Andrews? There were people alluding to some disciplinary piece on DNSYE after the game, and there must be something in - it truly can't be that VI sees TBD as a better right back?!
You'd think with the season effectively over players would start to realise they now have to earn the right to be here next season (assuming they want to, of course). I think the only player who comes out of that unscathed today is Ben. Certainly his safe hands in the first half kept us in the game while everyone else was asleep. As others have said, (Southampton away in the Cup aside when none of them made the effort) it's difficult to recall a game where so many turned in such seriously below-par performances.
Even Mooney could identify that Andrews is the only player in the squad with real pace! I'm no sports scientist, but the continual sidelining of our most promising youth product in a long time is puzzling
